In a follow-up letter Kerry expanded on her situation regarding job leads and how a registered nurse may not be in demand.

Times are most very difficult right now, my 14 year old daughter keeps bringing up the homeless shelter, and I believe deep down inside she is terrified of us ending up there. To be honest, so am I. I don’t have any other options up my sleeve, and have written the government until my fingertips hurt. Sometimes for up to 14 hours a day I have sent emails to Congress, the Ways and Means Committee, and so forth. They keep telling me it will take “time.” Time is the one thing that is not currently on our side, especially with the landlord breathing down our necks. I saw a news blurb today about the government potentially helping Americans out with their mortgages, but nothing in that piece about persons who rent apartments. There used to be a thing known as Section 8 in Illinois, but that has been closed, with no word of it ever opening up again. Section 8 might have been an option for us. I have also looked into federal grants – nothing available there either for rentals.

As far as me being a registered nurse and out of work, I believe part of the mystery lies in my age. I am almost 50, have been out of work for over 2 years, and potential employers are hesitant to hire me. I have NOT gotten one phone call or email from a potential employer for an RN position since I began my search almost 2 1/2 years ago! Not one! How odd? I do not understand it either. My educated guess would be that the employers are hiring new graduates, so they can pay them less and have to earn their benefits (health insurance, etc.) after 90 days employment. Just a guess. I have heard the same thing from other nurses as well. In Illinois, it seems we are at a total stand still with jobs. My only other guess would be that people are working 2 and 3 jobs, leaving none for the others that are still searching?

I did get a nibble of an invitation, on Dec 23, 2010 for a possible medical transcription position opening up recruiting in Jan of 2011. I sent my resume and am waiting to hear back from them. I just finished my MT (medical transcription) course in Oct of 2010. No experience equals no job. Oh, do you wanna hear another kicker? My MT instructor, upon completion of my course, wrote me an email saying that and I quote, “most employers will not hire retired or disabled nurses as medical transcriptionists” because “they are notoriously bad spellers.” She went on to say that one employer posted on her site, “if you are a nurse do not even bother to apply!” Can you imagine my shock upon reading this? Why did she not bother to tell me this PRIOR to my taking the MT course? I think I know the answer to this, for the money, of course! I have not given up hope however, I just keep on looking – in spite of what she had to say.

I am stumped however, with 2 degrees from college, I should be able to find ONE job!? In October of 2011, I will be able to drive a school bus again, like I did back in college. I have to wait because the State has to pass you – some kind of driving release. I am ineligible for this job because I had some financial problems 2 1/2 years ago, could not afford my car insurance for 2 months, so I had to apply for SR 22 because I was driving on a suspended license and had no idea! Anyway, I will be able to drive the bus again in approximately 10 months. I have never had any tickets, accidents, DUI’s, nothing on my driver’s license – except for that one instance. I have applied for some local driving jobs…but nothing yet.

These are basically the three things I know how to do for work. I have experience with nursing and driving, but no MT experience (outside of college). I will work hard, and try to give any potential employer my best effort. The ideal job would be to work in the transcription field, either from an office or from home. I am still looking Mike, every day. I know something will turn up. It has to! I want to work so much! I want to earn a paycheck again. I want to be able to provide for my daughter and myself. I always thought that by becoming a nurse, I would be set for life, but I am finding that this is not the case.

I asked Kerry to send me her resume to post here. If you are aware of anyone who may be interested in hiring Kerry or helping out her family during this difficult period, please send her a note.

Educated, talented, dedicated professionals of all types are having a difficult time finding work. This is not for a lack of effort. The employment situation in the US is not designed to help the millions of long-term unemployed reenter the workforce. Limited retraining opportunities, as in Kelly’s case, poor credit scores, length of time unemployed and age all factor into a deteriorating jobs picture for the long-term unemployed.

Now that the president and Congress have addressed the needs of the wealthy and the connected, it’s time to address the needs of the long-term unemployed. American cannot get back on track unless Americans are able to get back to work.

Wishing you all a prosperous 2011.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell? were you rejected during the hiring process for being unemployed. Have you been the victim of a temp agency that won’t give you an interview because you are unemployed? Have you seen jobs ads for “employed only” or “unemployed need not apply”? Have you lost a chance at a job due to a poor credit score? Send your job rejection experiences and unemployment stories to mike@layofflist.org.